Don’t wait for a four leaf clover – make your own luck.

Some people will go their entire lives without finding a four- leaf clover, regardless of the effort spent trying to look.  Legend has it that finding one, especially accidentally, will bring good luck to the finder.  The legend also says that each leaf stands for something – one leaf for hope, one for faith, one for love and one for luck.  No wonder  kids can spend hours looking for them, as mine often did when they were younger.

Me? My kids think I have some sort of clover radar, because I can just walk over to a grassy area, bend over, and instantly find a four leaf clover.  This has driven them nuts more than a few times as children, because as I just mentioned,as kids they often would lay down in local fields and scrutinize the foliage on their tummies. They were so cute to watch, moving from spot to spot,  clump of clover to clump of clover, and in the end still finding nothing and stomping off in frustration while giving me a pointed glare. In total, I think I’ve found about 10, and I’ve never really looked for any of them. I just bend over and there they are.

Is this luck? Some kind of divine sign? Some might think so. I like to think that I just see whats there. Sometimes we are searching so hard for something,that we miss what was right under our nose the entire time. Like when you think you’ve lost your keys and you rip your house apart to find them, only to have your wife come home and point out they were on the hall table right beside you all the time. Sometimes all you need to do is shake your head, close your eyes and take a deep breath. Be still for a moment, and when you open your eyes, you can see things in a different light.

I saw something no one else saw recently. It was the very first outing with our realtor, and the second house we looked at. Despite the overpowering smell of cooking odours and the mess that covered pretty much every area in the home, I knew that this was going to be our new home immediately. As I walked around and took in every room, things that other buyers had been turned off by didn’t bother me, because I could see beyond the mess and the dings in the walls and the chipped paint. To me , that stuff is all incidental to living in a house with kids, and can be easily remedied with some putty and paint. What drew me in was the abundance of windows, the high ceilings and the simple lines of the house. While others may have seen too much work, I saw the place where my little ones could run in a  circle through the kitchen, living room and dining room. I saw Christmas dinners under the glow of wrought iron light fixture and evenings cuddled on the couch in front of the fireplace. But most of all, I loved the light streaming in the windows that touched every corner of every room in that house. There will be no darkness in my home.

We bought it. Not right away, but after looking at a couple more places, we went back to that house and inspected every nook and cranny. We inspected the neighbours.I looked at the RCMP crime stats. We drove around endlessly looking for gangsters or hookers or anyone who looked the least bit weird, but nothing. We did find a lot of young families, a lot of kids my sons age and its quite clear this is a neighbourhood with a lot of pride and respect. And the best part is that a nice school is within walking distance.

This is why I’ve been absent from the blog this week – between handling all the details related to getting a new home AND trying to keep some very hot kids from killing each other, the  blog had to take a back seat. But hey, now the fun begins! Packing, cleaning, thinking about new things for the new house….. and of course, that all important bottle of wine to toast with.

So, my dear Salvatore, no longer will you have to fret over all the crap in my neighbourhood, because I’m outta here!!  So long to the gangsters in their decked out hummers and Chrysler’s, so long to the hookers invading the streets, so long to crack heads, the pimps, the shoot-outs and the endless car break ins. I’m done with all of it. I would suggest to anyone thinking of moving to Newton that you don’t. Just don’t do it. It’s not going to get better anytime soon, and unless you like living with all of the above, you’ll hate it like I did. Fair warning to you.

There are a few things I will miss though. I’ll miss the giant trees that line my street, and provide shade for birds and people alike. Their leaves sound wonderful in the wind,and give great delight in the fall when raked into giant piles to frolic in. And yes, I frolic too. I’ll miss all the elderly Indian people who are out walking while I’m out running in the early mornings. They wave and smile as I go by, a camaraderie knowing no barriers of race or language. We know why we are out there so early. We get it.

Even though I’m leaving this area, I’m not abandoning the efforts to turn this area around. Some people can’t just pick up and leave, and some people don’t have a voice strong enough to be heard. I will still hold the mayor and council accountable for their actions, or in the case of Newton, the lack thereof. And of course, I will continue to write about local issues that I feel are important to the people who live here, and encourage your emails and comments about all of it.

On that note, I’m off again – even on a holiday weekend there is house business to attend to, and then several festivals to check out this afternoon. My garden is laden with zucchini, ( really, I really, really will send you some if you want it!!! Puhlease!!! )  as well as tomatoes, strawberries and herbs.

Life is good. Don’t forget to see what’s right in front of you. Sometimes what you were looking for was there all along.